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Watch Out For Fake Facebook Stock

If you do construction work on someone’s home and they offer to pay you in Facebook stock — before the IPO — it might not be a good idea to accept it in lieu of cash, as one Wisconsin man learned last week.

Marianne Oleson, 46, made her initial appearance in Winnebago County court Wednesday afternoon. Oleson, who is also known to go by the last names of Jansen, Milock or Maloney, is charged with 31 felony counts relating to theft and forgery for the sale of fake stock for the social media company Facebook.

“I was scammed,” said Randy Stafford. Stafford, a construction worker, did work on Oleson’s home in Nekimi in Winnebago County.

According to the criminal complaint, after Oleson couldn’t pay up, she offered to pay Stafford in fake stock in Facebook.

“I think it’s a great opportunity, it’s a growing business so on and so forth,” said Stafford.